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Friday, July 20, 2012

Of Traveling and Writing: A Night out with Meet Manila & Friends

Hey Everyone!

Just wanted to share what Budget Biyahera did over the weekend, as Ms. Ysobel, Aix and the rest of the Meet Manila team invited me once again to another awesome event. It was actually a collaboration of Writing Manila with 4 university organizations -- and I was oh-so humbled to be asked to share about traveling and blogging (eventhough I really sucked in public speaking!) with a very fun crowd. =P The venue was set at Conspiracy Garden Cafe.

Now before anything else, let me share to you a little bit more about Writing Manila and Buklod Zine...

"Writing Manila is a new initiative of MeetManila.com, wherein we are tapping university organizations in encouraging fellow students to foster big ambitions for the Philippine tourism scene through the written word. WritingManila.org will serve as their portal through which they can have their writings about Philippine places, people, and culture featured. As this writing collective for the bright and young grows in the future, student initiative and leadership will be instilled in its members, as partial ownership of Writing Manila online assets will be granted to them. This non-profit avenue for aspiring writers will be perfect to give our students the platform they need for further development and to gain confidence in their beliefs through writing.

For our first ever visit, we are joining four university organizations, UP Writers Club, Heights (Ateneo), Malate Literary Folio (DLSU), and Thomasian Writers Guild in their upcoming event this Saturday, Buklod Zine. Besides joining them in their event, MeetManila.com will also be provided stage time to officially engage with them and their audience for Writing Manila."

This what was emailed to me by Aix. She also requested if we (Meet Manila's friends) could engage with the young students for a 2-minute (each) chit chat -- ideally about our experiences in traveling around the Philippines and in blogging them.

I honestly loved the idea and started feeling all giddy about sharing my experiences. But then my nervousness got the best of me, as it dawned that I was never a good public speaker. Whenever I would speak in front of a large group (both in college and in previous corporate functions), I would always have my cue cards in tow. But for some reason, when Winston of Batangyagit.com started talking to the crowd without reading anything, I felt intimidated. "ok, fine.. I'm going without my codego!". And the next thing you know, I was up on the stage and blabbering like a lost kid! Having no cue cards was a bad idea. I just hope I brought my message out despite my frazzled thoughts. :P *sorry guys!*

Those 2 minutes felt like forever for someone like me. Then again, my jitters left my body almost immediately as soon as the rest of our friends started sharing their experiences on stage. Winston, Nyel and Froilan really did awesome up there! :)

Hey Grysh! I would have to agree with everything that you've pointed out. I've never been good with public speaking, so it has always been a hard thing for me to do whenever I'm tasked to do a certain function. But when push comes to shove, everything just simply pours from my mouth - unfiltered but wholesome. Here's to hoping that I've touched at least one person in thinking about pursuing their passion. Cheers sis! :)

Wow, what a fun event! I'd love to join next time! lol! ... mmmm, I then suggest you find a Toastmaster's Club near your place and join!!!I'm a member here in the States but was a member of Tambuli Toastmasters in Makati before.. it really helped in public speaking!!! Good luck!